In the field of optical communication, there is a pressing need to improve the capacity of optical networks. Increasing the capacity of the optical networks may be achieved by moving toward all-optical communication systems. Similar demand, for higher speed exists in the computing field. The need for higher speed in the computing field may also benefit from the move towards optical computing. However, in both fields, the communication and the computing, there are some optical technologies needed but, still did not reach the level of maturity to be used. One of these desired technologies is the technology for optical bistable devices. These devices can be used to perform logic functions, at a very high speed, in the field of optical computing and may be used as ultra-fast activating devices to drive optical switches and gates used in the field of all-optical communication systems for all-optical packet routing.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide all-optical bistable devices;
Another object of the present invention is to provide all-optical bistable devices including optical feedback paths;
Another object of the present invention is to provide all-optical bistable devices including optical feedback paths having fast optical amplifiers, such as, Solid state Optical Amplifiers (SOA) and Linear Optical Amplifiers (LOA), and
Still another object of the present invention is to provide all-optical bistable devices having on-chip manufacturability.